Ravens travel to Saint Michael's on Thursday

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (September 18, 2012) – A natural hat trick by junior midfielder Jessica Otis over the opening 26:41 on Tuesday night would be the only offense No. 8 nationally ranked Merrimack needed on its way to a 6-0 victory over the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team in non-conference play at Martone-Mejail Field. Freshman goalkeeper Sarah Cote (Athol, Mass.) made 10 saves in defeat for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 2-4 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Merrimack improves to 5-1 (0-0 Northeast-10). The two teams will play their Northeast-10 Conference match on Oct. 4 in Rindge. Franklin Pierce is now without a goal in each of its last four games, a span of 280 minutes.

Otis would find the cage early and often for Merrimack, scoring three times in a span of 16:56 in the first half to turn a 0-0 game into a 3-0 lead for the Warriors. Her first goal, which was her second of the season, came at the 9:45 mark, when she took the injection from junior forward Candace Waldie and scored off a penalty corner. Otis would take care of the next two by herself, without an assist, at the 14:05 and 26:41 marks. Her second of the night was scored to the lower-left corner after a partial breakaway into the right-wing side of the circle, while she finished off the hat trick by putting away a rebound.

Just 1:25 after the third Otis goal, her older sister, senior midfielder Jen Otis, got on the board as well, with her fourth of the season. This one also came off a penalty corner, with Waldie picking up her second assist of the night.

Senior midfielder Jamie Spano picked up a pair of assists on deflection goals in the second half, as Merrimack tacked on two more goals to win going away. First, 4:10 into the period, she set up freshman midfielder Katrina Squeri's second goal of the season before adding a helper on freshman forward Taylor Ledwith's first career goal with 13:08 to play.

Cote made 10 saves against 16 shots on her cage and suffered the loss (2-4) in net for Franklin Pierce, while sophomore back Brittany Lepore (Barnstable, Mass.) picked up her second defensive save of the season along the way. Senior Kerri Bergquist stopped both shots on goal at her end of the field to pick up her third shutout of the season and the win (5-1) between the pipes for Merrimack.

The Ravens return to the field on Thursday, Sept. 20, when they travel to Saint Michael's for a non-conference contest. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Duffy Field in Colchester, Vt. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Saturday, Sept. 22 against Southern Connecticut State at 4 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).